Father John A. Hardon, S.J. Archives

Heresies & Heretics

Donatism

by Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.

Donatism, at first a schism and later a heresy
which profoundly disturbed the Church in Africa from the reign of the Roman
emperor Diocletian (r. 284-305) to the Muslim conquest. The name is commonly
derived from Donatus, successor in the see of Carthage to Majorinus who
had been elected in 312 by a group of purists as rival to the legitimate bishop,
Cecilian. These purists maintained that Cecilian's consecration as bishop was
invalid, on the ground that he had been consecrated by a prelate who had weakened
under Diocletian's persecution.

The occasion for the schism was the imperial
edict of 303, which demanded among other things that Christians deliver up the
sacred books to be burned. Certain Christians in Numidia (modern coastal Algeria)
claimed that anyone who had so sinned could not validly administer the sacraments.
Felix, the bishop of Aptunga, was accused (it appears unjustly) of being one
of these traditores (traitors) and therefore incapable of consecrating Cecilian.
Those who elected his rival called themselves the Church of the Martyrs and
declared that all who were in communion with public sinners like Felix and Cecilian
were excommunicated.

As a result many cities had two bishops, one subject to Cecilian
and the other to Majorinus. On request of the schismatics, Emperor Constantine
submitted the case to Pope Miltiades for settlement. The Pope summoned a council
of bishops and ordered Cecilian to come to Rome with ten bishops of his accusers
and ten of his own. Heading the accusing delegation was Donatus.

When Miltiades decided in favor of Cecilian, Donatus rejected
the decision and asked for another council, which was held at Arles in 314,
and when this also went against him, he appealed to the Emperor. For some years
Constantine tried to repress the schism, but in 321 he relented and bade the
Catholics patiently bear with the Donatists.

Shortly before the death of Constantine (337), the Donatists
were joined by an insurrectionary movement of dispossessed peasants, called
Circumcellions because they were always prowling "around the homesteads
(circum cellas). Homeless and unemployed, they ravaged the countryside,
beating landlords with cudgels and putting them to the sword. They defied the
magistrates who tried them and sentenced them to death. To avoid capture, some
threw themselves headlong from high places. In 347 the emperor Constans reinstated
his fathers policy of repression against Donatists. The emperor Julian (r.
361-363) restored toleration, and inter-Christian conflict broke out again.
Finally in 412 Emperor Honorius passed a law against the Donatists that practically
dissolved the sect. He imposed heavy fines on all members, exiled their bishops
and clergy, and taxed the Circumcellions. Though greatly weakened, the schism
persisted until Byzantine rule in Africa was destroyed by the Arabs in the seventh
century.

The success of Donatism may be traced partly to its powerful
organization, but mostly to its simple dogmatic position: 1) The Church is a
society of saints from which sinners are excluded; 2) The sacraments are worthless
unless administered by the priests of this holy Church. In effect, Donatism
sought to purge the rich, who had protected their privileges by cooperating
with the Diocletian persecution, from the Church. Saints Optatus and Augustine
spent years of polemic effort in refuting this radical doctrine.

Not the least importance of Donatism was the patristic teaching
it evoked, especially in St. Augustine, on the rights of secular intervention
in religious matters. At first Augustine was opposed to the application of civil
laws against "heretics," although on principle he justified them.
But later, as the Circumcellions became a serious threat to the rich, he favored
a more aggressive policy by the state, on the score of protecting citizens from
the violence of the dispossessed underclass.